GREAT BRITAIN RAILCARD

Early day motion 1608, tabled 16 July 2003 by Mark Lazarowicz (Labour/Co-operative). Signed by 57 members.

That this House supports the call for the introduction of a Great Britain Railcard covering the whole of the British rail network and offering rail passengers off-peak discount travel; congratulates Railfuture and The Railway Consultancy for their forward-thinking work on this issue; notes the potential benefits of such a scheme, including a significant increase in rail use by leisure travellers, thereby helping to encourage a switch from road to rail, increased revenues for the rail industry, greater use of existing capacity on off-peak services, and higher levels of social inclusion; points to the high uptake of similar schemes on the Continent and the success in the United Kingdom of the Network South East Card, Senior Card and Young Person's Railcard in stimulating demand for rail travel; and calls on the Strategic Rail Authority and the Association of Train Operating Companies fully to endorse the proposals for such a card and to examine ways of introducing it across the network as soon as possible.

Signatures by party: Labour 40, Liberal Democrat 8, Labour/Co-operative 6, Conservative 1, Plaid Cymru 1, UUP 1.